Best Preppie Basketball Rivalry

Best: Maret–Sidwell Friends

2nd Best: Gonzaga–DeMatha

Maret–Sidwell Friends got all the attention this season, after news broke that the Sidwell kids taunted Maret fans with a tacky/brilliant chant of “O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma! O-ba-ma” during a December basketball game. But by the end of the year, all the focus was back on DeMatha and Gonzaga, traditional hoops powerhouses where even presidents’ kids wouldn’t be celebrated this time of year unless said youngsters could dunk and/or crab dribble. The DeMatha–Gonzaga matchup for the Catholic League championship only added more fuel to the historic fire between the only two all-boys schools left in the conference. Before a standing-room-only crowd at AU’s Bender Arena earlier this month, and with the purple gang of Gonzaga kids cheering like they were watching Man U–Liverpool, the game came down to a last-second layup, with the Stags taking a 62–61 win. Wait till next year.